After Happily Ever After
by LydiaGrace94
Summary: A re-upload from my old account which I no longer have access to. The story of Merry and Pippin's niece and her adventure across Middle Earth.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – In the Beginning

"Miss Petunia Celandine Brandybuck-Took!" Mrs Underhill screamed "Get back here this instant!"

Petunia sighed. She had just wanted to have a few minutes peace before her lessons started again.

"Just coming Mrs Underhill" Petunia called, she climbed down from her perch in her tree picked up her book and ran as quickly as her bare feet would carry her, back to the little hobbit hole that she lived in with her mother and father, just outside Hobbiton.

When Petunia arrived breathless at the small bedroom they used as a classroom (hobbit holes aren't built with classrooms), she found another hobbit girl sitting at her desk! "Sorry I'm late Mrs Underhill, it won't happen again," She panted.

"See that it doesn't" Mrs Underhill huffed "Now Petunia, this is my daughter Eleanor. She is to be taking lessons with you from today. We only have one desk, so either you share or we move to the dinning room," and without giving them much choice, she picked up the books that were lying on the table and swept passed the girls and out of the room.

Petunia stared at the girl. She looked nothing like her mother. _'____But' _Petunia thought' she___ is probably just as bossy and presumptuous.'_

"Hello," Eleanor said shyly "I suppose you think I'm just as horrible as my mother," she sighed. "Don't worry about it, most people do."

As soon as Eleanor said those words Petunia instantly regretted her silence, but the prospect was almost too funny to imagine. This gentle hobbit-girl, daughter of the loud and bossy Mrs Rose Underhill! Petunia burst out into uncontrollable laughter! Eleanor jumped. She certainly wasn't expecting this reaction! She started to blush. She hoped Petunia wasn't laughing at her because she hated her mother and so she was going to hate her.

When Petunia's laughing fit subsided, she took a big breath and said "Sorry about that. I just couldn't imagine you being Mrs Underhill's daughter! You! A pretty young hobbit girl, who is about what? Eighteen? And has a mother as tough as that!"

Eleanor gave a delighted little giggle. "I know! It is true! My mother frightens me sometimes, but she has her good points. She's tough, and fair. And she's good enough to our donkey."

"You have a donkey?! Oh you're so lucky! My uncle rode a proper pony you know, he fought in the War of the Ring. And you know the country of Rohan? Of course you do, your mama would have told you about it. Well, my Uncle Pippin is a knight in that country."

Eleanor gasped in disbelief. "Your uncle is Ernil-I-Pheriannath!"

"Yes and Meriadoc Brandybuck, my other uncle, is a knight in Gondor. He's a friend of King Aragorn's you know. You may know my Uncle Merry as 'Holdwine' or 'Meriadoc the Magnificent'." Petunia said proudly. "Anyway we had better get to the dinning room, I'll show you the way"

When the two girls arrived at the new classroom, they were already fast friends.

"Finally. It shouldn't take that long to get from the old classroom to here!" Mrs Underhill said "Petunia, will you pick up that small table and bring it up here."

Petunia did as she was told and took the table to Mrs Underhill.

"Where shall I put it Mrs Underhill?"

"Just there. Thank You. Eleanor, hold these," and she dumped a pile of thick, heavy books in her hand. Eleanor gave a small gasp as she felt the weight of the books. Mrs Underhill went on giving books to Eleanor, until eventually she collapsed under the weight of them.

"Oh! My dear Eleanor! Are you alright?" Mrs Underhill ran to her daughter.

"I'm so sorry! You should have told me when it got to heavy!" Petunia smiled. She could see Mrs Underhill loved her daughter, despite her brisk manner.

As Mrs Underhill fussed over her daughter Petunia sat down at her desk and started reading one of her history books.

___Meriadoc Brandybuck (more often known as Holdwine or Meriadoc the magnificent), son of Saradoc Brandybuck accompanied Frodo on the quest to Mount Doom. He was captured by Orcs along with his friend Peregrin Took, son of Paladin the Second (his elven name is Ernil-I-Pheriannath), and was separated from the rest of The Fellowship of the Ring. Luckily he and Peregrin Took escape. They became the first mortals to see the Ents of Fangorn Forest in centuries. Both of them were present at the Siege of Isengard and, after being made a knight of Rohan, rode with the Rohirrim to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, while Peregrin Took was made a knight of Gondor. Both fought valiantly in the battle and are renowned warriors because of it._

"Oh silly me!" Petunia cried, "I'm always doing that," she laughed at herself.

"Doing what?" Eleanor asked

"Getting my uncles mixed up."

Eleanor laughed "Oh Petunia, you are a breeze!"

"What do you mean getting your uncles mixed up?" Mrs Underhill asked looking bewildered at the two hobbit girls. Eleanor attempted to explain but then burst out in to fits of laughter so Petunia took over.

"I told Eleanor that Uncle Pippin was a knight of Rohan when he is actually a knight in Gondor and I also told her that Uncle Merry was a knight in Gondor when really he's a knight in Rohan!"

"Oh you silly girl, have you not known your uncles and their tales long enough to know what country they are knights in?" Petunia blushed; she really needed to think before she spoke!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – It all Begins with a Book

"Petunia! Petunia! Where is that child? Petunia!" Celandine Brandybuck-Took (Petunia's mother), had searched the whole hobbit hole for her daughter.

"You can hardly call her a child, 'Dine, she's sixteen!" Meriadoc Brandybuck, Celandine's brother said while picking up his cloak. "Anyway, I think I know where she might be. Coming, Pip?"

"I am." Peregrin Took grabbed his cloak off the hook and ran after his first cousin. Merry led Pippin down his sisters garden to the river that ran along the bottom of it. They walked along the bank until they came to a weeping willow. Parting the branches of the willow, they went underneath the canopy. They saw Petunia sitting with her back to them reading something.

"There you are, Flower!" Pippin cried. Flower was Petunia's uncle's pet name for her.

"Uncle Pippin! Uncle Merry!" Petunia leaped up and ran into her uncles' arms. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"Just an hour ago," Merry laughed.

"An hour! Why didn't you call me?!"

"Your mother did. She searched the whole hole." Pippin picked up the book Petunia had been reading, ___The Adventures of Milo Knotwise _it had written on the front of it in Petunias curly writing. Petunia quickly snatched the book away from her uncle.

"Hey! Don't snatch! And why can't I look at your book?" Pippin put on a stern face, but still had his usual twinkle in his eye.

"How are things in Rohan, Uncle Pippin?" Petunia asked hurriedly.

"Gondor. And you still haven't answered my question," Pippin said curtly,

"Oh yes! Silly me! Imagine that, I'm your niece and I don't even know what country you are a knight in! You are the knight in Rohan, Uncle Merry. How are things there?" She shooed them out of the shelter of the willow branches and began to walk briskly back to the hobbit hole.

"Fine, Lady Eowyn has just had a baby. She named him Elboron. But you still haven't answered your Uncle Pippin's question!" Merry stopped and looked curiously at Petunia. He had an inkling of an idea.

Petunia dismissed the latter statement with a pretty smile. "Eleanor! What are you doing here? I thought lessons were cancelled for the holidays!"

Eleanor came over to them. "Yes they are, but I just thought you would like to write more of..."

"Let me introduce you to my uncles, Eleanor. This is my uncle Pippin and this is uncle Merry." Petunia sharply interrupted Eleanor, giving her one of those "hush-it's-a-secret-and-they-don't-know" looks. Eleanor stared shyly at the two heroes she admired the most.

"Petunia Celandine Brandybuck-Took!"

Petunia winced. Pippin very rarely used her full name. Only if she was in trouble, otherwise he called her Flower. "Yes, Uncle Pippin?" Petunia gave her uncle a wide-eyed innocent stare.

"Don't play innocent with me, young lady! I know what you've been up to!" Pippin drew himself up to his full height (4 ½ ft. That's tall for a hobbit!), and had a very angry look in his eye. Merry looked at his cousin in astonishment. What possibly could have happened to make Pippin so angry? He was usually such a gentle hobbit, nothing had happened to make him this angry since young Frodo (Sam's son) had taken Pippin's pony from its stall in the stables and ridden him away while Sam, his wife Rosie and young Frodo were staying there for a holiday!

Now there is something you must know. Petunia's mother, Celandine, did not approve of adventure. But Petunia's Tookish nature always managed to find a way to get a tale or two into the day! She just loved stories of danger and adventure and was always getting into trouble for it. Eleanor shared this love for adventure stories and so the two of them had decided to write a book about a young hobbit called Milo Knotwise of Michel Delving who had a big adventure. As Celandine did not want her child have anything to do with adventure, Pippin knew they (or at least Petunia would) get in trouble when they reached home.

"You know your mother forbade you to have anything to do with adventures," Pippin growled.

"Mama doesn't know, and she won't know if you don't tell her!" Petunia wheedled, giving Pippin a pleading look.

"Why did you start writing it in the first place?" Merry sighed, recovering from the shock of seeing Pippin so angry.

"Don't blame 'Tunia! It's not her fault! I suggested it!" Eleanor whispered in awe. She couldn't believe that she was standing in front of her childhood heroes!

"Thanks Eleanor, but you don't need to defend me. I'm a big girl now! I can look after myself! Just the same as I can write what I want! It's not as if I was going to run away overnight!" Petunia cried, and she stormed off and locked herself in her room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – In which it all goes a bit wrong...

"Come out Flower. Please?" Merry knocked on the door of his niece's bedroom. There was silence. He knocked again. "Uncle Pippin didn't mean what he said earlier. He was upset because he didn't want you to get into trouble..." There was still silence. Merry sighed and went back to the room where Pippin, Celandine, Benbow and Eleanor were sitting.

"Still not answering?" Celandine asked.

"What on earth has gotten into her?" Benbow looked questioningly at the three younger hobbits.

Pippin sighed, buried his head in his hands and mumbled something about "writing books" and "didn't mean it." He suddenly jerked his head up and said to Merry. "You don't think..."

Merry's eyes widened. "She can't have..." They both got up and dashed out of the room.

A few minutes later the others who were left in the living room heard loud banging, presumably on Petunia's door, and shouts of: "Come out!" and "We know you're in there!"

"Well, Eleanor, I'm sorry for the way my relatives have been behaving today. Maybe it would be best if you just went home." Benbow stood up to show Eleanor to the door.

Eleanor nodded and stood up too. "Thank you Mr and Mrs Brandybuck-Took."

"Always a pleasure Eleanor," Celandine smiled as she left the room to deal with her brother and brother-in-law.

When Benbow returned from saying goodbye to Eleanor (which just happened to take ten minutes!), he found Merry sitting with his arm around his sister, who was crying loudly into her handkerchief. "What on Middle Earth's happening to my family?!" he asked. "First Petunia locks herself in her room for some reason unknown to me and my wife."

At this, Celandine began to wail even louder, obliging Benbow to shout in order to be heard. "Secondly, my brother and his friend seem to have gone mad and start banging on doors, and now my wife is crying for a reason that everyone seems to know except me!" Benbow glared at his Pippin who was looking out the window.

Pippin turned to look at him.

Benbow looked him right in the eye. "Petunia's gone," he said.

* * *

Panting, Petunia ran. She ran away from her hole, away from home, from her family. ___'I'll show them!' _she thought. ___'I'll show them I'm not just another hobbit girl!'_

On she ran. Not caring where she was heading. Jumping logs, ducking under branches, until she came to a road.

* * *

"But why?! Why would she run away?" Celandine cried onto her husband's shoulder.

"It's because of me," Pippin entered the room carrying a tray of tea cups and a plate of biscuits.

"No it's not, Pip. Don't say that! It was bound to happen sometime!" Merry said, patting Pippin on the back as he set the tray down.

"But not as soon as it did if I hadn't gotten angry at her!"

"What did you get angry at her for?" Benbow asked as he comforted his wailing wife.

Pippin sighed and glanced at Merry, who nodded. "She and her friend Eleanor were writing a story."

"What's wrong with that?" Benbow frowned at his brother.

"It was about an adventure, so, knowing that you wouldn't like it, Celandine, I told her off. She got angry at me and, well, this is where it ended up," Pippin said with a shrug.

Celandine gasped and stood up shakily. "This is your fault, Meriadoc Brandybuck! If you hadn't told her about your travels, she wouldn't have written that book and she wouldn't have run away! You know I hate adventures and this is why: I didn't want to lose my only child!"

Merry was about to say something but was cut short by Pippin placing a hand on his shoulder. "Celandine, let's just wait and see whether she comes back before we jump to conclusions."

Benbow shook his head sadly "Once she sets her mind on something she won't turn back. I should know, she is my daughter."

Walking along the road, Petunia came to an old rickety pier with a raft tied to it. It was weather-worn and broken in parts. Unknown to her, she was following in the footsteps of her famous uncles and their friends Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

* * *

Petunia was not really going to run away. She was going to wait till nightfall then return back home to Hobbiton. As she turned to leave, there was a rustling in the bushes to her left. Curiously she went to look. There was a man, one of the Big Folk, lying on the roadside. "Excuse me? Are you hurt?" she asked. Suddenly the man jumped up and grabbed her. Petunia screamed and struggled, but the man was too strong. They were soon joined by more Big Folk, who bound and gagged her. Then one of them threw her over his shoulder and they ran onto the raft. When they got across they ran into the forest and disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – The Pursuit

In the kitchen of the Brandybuck-Tooks. Four hobbits sat discussing what to do.

"Do you have any idea where she would go?" Samwise Gamgee asked his friends.

Benbow and Merry shook their heads, sadly, but Pippin nodded slowly. "Yes, I think I do..." and he told them of how once, when Petunia was small, he had told her of their journey to Mount Doom and how she had said she would like to see the mountains and meet the elves. "So you see, I think she may have gone to Buckleberry Ferry."

"Yes... that makes sense. If she wants to have an adventure of her own, she would go the same way you went in the hope of having an adventure herself!" said Benbow.

Merry stood up and put his cloak on. Pippin did the same, as did Sam. "Wait, where are you going?!" Benbow jumped up, causing his chair to fall over backwards.

"To find Petunia of course, where else?" Sam shook his head at Benbow Brandybuck-Took. They hadn't known each other for long. Merry and Pippin had introduced them on the occasion of Petunia's sixteenth birthday. Naturally, they had thrown a big party. People said it was almost as good as the one Bilbo Baggins had thrown for his one hundred and eleventh birthday.

Benbow left a note for Celandine, who was sleeping, so she wouldn't worry so much.

___Dear Celandine,_

___Off to find Petunia. Think we know where she might be._

___Love,_

___Benbow_

Then the four hobbits left.

"Ah, just like old times," Merry sighed, despite the fact they were trying to find a sixteen year old runaway hobbit lass, he was quite enjoying the feeling of going on an adventure again.

"Not quite," Sam looked sad. He was remembering his last adventure; it had been with his old master. Frodo Baggins. He had sailed from the Gray Havens after the One Ring had been destroyed. Sam had been very close to his master and he missed him, very much.

Pippin patted him on the back and said: "Don't worry, Sam. Frodo will always be with us as long as we remember him. Chin up! We won't get far if you're weighed down with memories!"

Cheered by this thought, Sam plodded on with the others, thinking about the happier times with his 'Mr. Frodo'.

When Celandine discovered the note, she hurried across to her friend Lila Bracegirdle's and told her about what happened. By mid-afternoon the whole of Hobbiton knew about the "Brandybuck-Took affair," and by the evening, half the Shire knew the story! Celandine went home and spent her hours worrying about her husband, her brother-in-law, her brother and her friend. But most of all, she worried about her daughter.

* * *

Petunia bumped along on the man's shoulder for hours on end, stopping only once to they wouldn't be seen by passers by. Eventually the men grew tired, and the one who seemed to be the leader called for them to stop and rest. She was dumped by all the baggage and left there. The men lit a fire and made some stew. They ate every last scrap, not bothering to give their prisoner any. Then, they settled down to sleep, leaving at least one man on guard at all times.

She lay uncomfortably. Hands tied behind her back, unable to get to sleep. She had been taught by her parents to stay away from the Big Folk as they were "mean and treated hobbits like slaves," but she had always disregarded this, preferring to believe what her Uncle Pippin said. "Not all men are horrible. Some can be nice. There are plenty of great Kings and rulers who treat hobbits very kindly. Why do you think I would have traveled with King Aragorn and Boromir if they weren't kind!" he had said.

Now she believed her parents!

Eventually Petunia fell into a fit full sleep. Tossing and turning, she dreamed of her home, her uncles, her friends and her mother and father. Soon after she was rudely awoken by being thrown over a man's shoulder, and they jogged on. This was the beginning of the second day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – One of them was kind

"Come, wake up brother. We must move on." Pippin gently shook Benbow awake.

"Move on where?" Benbow asked, sitting up groggily.

"To find Petunia," Merry said.

"What about breakfast?" Benbow was wide awake now. "You can't travel on an empty stomach!"

"I've kept some for you, but you will have to eat it as we walk," Sam called from beside the embers of the previous night's fire.

Benbow got up, put on his cloak (which he had used as a blanket) and took his breakfast from Sam.

"All set?" Pippin asked no one in particular. They all nodded. "Let's go, then!" he called, and they moved off.

* * *

Jerking up and down on a man's shoulder is not a comfortable means of travel. Especially if your hands are tied behind your back and you have a filthy cloth in your mouth. Petunia thought about what she could be doing, had she not run away. She could have been talking with Elanor, writing more of their book. Or perhaps she would have been listening to her uncles tell tales of their many adventures and wishing she could have one of her own. In all her days she never imagined that her own adventure was to end up like this: tied up like a chicken and being carried like a sack of potatoes!

Then she thought about what would happen if, no, _when_, she returned home or was rescued by someone. Imagining a great battle ending in the total destruction of the Big Folk, and her being carried home on Merry or Pippin's shoulders helped take her mind of the pain she was in from bouncing up and down on the man's shoulder all the time.

Back in Hobbiton, the rumour circulating was that Petunia Brandybuck-Took had run away. That was how it started. Gradually it grew from a little gossip into a fully fledged fireside story. People were adding their own bits to it making it wilder and wilder. Soon they were guessing how it would all end.

Some people said she would come home safely; others said she would be scarred for life, and still more people said that she would never come home at all, but die a horrible gruesome death. But everyone said it was the parents' fault for letting her listen to the tales of her famous uncles, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took.

Celandine spent her days helping Rose Gamgee with her children and the house work to distract her from worrying about her missing daughter. It certainly helped. Running around after lots of little hobbit feet took up a lot of time and energy.

Rose was kind to Celandine, sympathizing when necessary and encouraging her when she felt down. "Don't worry dear, they'll all be safe. Sam'll never let them go hungry, and Merry and Pippins fighting skills have improved a lot since they last left the Shire. And I believe Pippin has been taught tracking by his friends, the Rangers," she said, one particularly grey day. And when this didn't work, she said, "They'll find Petunia, Celandine. I know they will!"

Another sleepless night passed for Petunia, after a long day of travel. Lying on her back, staring up at the stars, she wondered if anyone was coming for her. Perhaps they hadn't discovered that she had gone! Or even worse, maybe they didn't care, and thought she should go crawling back for forgiveness!

___'Now Petunia, there's no need to panic. You know Uncle Pippin and Uncle Merry will come for you. And maybe Dad will come too' _Petunia told herself firmly.

Her stomach growled softly. She had gone three days without food. Whimpering at the horror of it all, Petunia rolled on to her side to see if the guards had changed yet. They had. And to her surprise, the one that was now on guard was watching her closely. She quickly looked away, not wanting to provoke an attack.

The man came over to her and pulled her up roughly, so she was in a sitting position. He took the cloth out of her mouth gently, in case she screamed.

She didn't., she was too scared to do anything!

The man went back over to the fire and scooped out the last dregs of the stew and brought it over to her. "Eat," he said. His voice was surprisingly soft and gentle.

"I can't," Petunia whispered, half scared, and half in shock from being spoken to.

The man looked surprised, but then realised that he had not untied her hands.

As he untied them, Petunia squeezed her eyes shut tight. She was afraid that the man might change his mind and tie her hands back together and take the bowl back. When the ropes fell away, Petunia sighed and rubbed her wrists, glad to be free of her bonds, before crawling towards the dying fire to savour what little food she had been given. As she finished, she glanced fearfully over to the man. He was watching her again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The question surprised Petunia. She looked towards the man warily, "Lila," she lied, "Lila Bracegirdle."

"Where were you going when we caught you?" the man edged towards Petunia.

She didn't know why, but she seemed to find his presence comforting, though all his questions made her feel nervous. "I was going to... to... visit my friend!"

The man raised his eyebrows, "With nothing for the journey? No food, no clothing? Nothing for protection?"

Petunia hesitated, "She was going to meet me half way, across the river back there, with her father and his cart," Now Petunia had told him this, she found she was getting better at lying!

"And where does your friend live?" the man asked.

"Bree," Petunia lied easily, "she lives in Bree."

"So _Lila_, you came from Hobbiton, on your own, to visit your friend in Bree with no supplies for while you were travelling?"

Petunia nodded.

The man chuckled. "Look, I may be the dog boy, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"I have no idea what you talking about," Petunia said, hotly. "And what's a dog boy?" she asked curiously.

"A dog boy is the youngest member of a gang. He's the one who does all the hard work, and the jobs no one else wants to do. I should be the one carrying you, but my father doesn't trust me."

"Is your father the dog man then? And why doesn't he trust you? He is your father after all." Petunia was intrigued by the rankings of the gang.

The man laughed, but quickly quietened again, for fear of waking someone.

"No, my father is the leader, the Captain. Then there's Pilimor, he's the second in command. Then Hirvegil, Callon and Mistnir."

"What positions do they have?"

"They don't really have positions; they fight among themselves about who is second from the bottom of the heap."

Petunia looked at the man warily. Why was he telling her all of this? Surely he should be threatening her with horrible things! What was he up to?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - They find a lead

Back on track after a long 'short cut,' the hobbits were getting tired. All except Benbow.

"Come on Pippin! Hurry up, if you've found her tracks surely we should be able to catch her up…should we not?" Benbow faced his brother worriedly.

"No, we won't find them today. These prints are two days old. I'm sorry, Benbow. The Big Folk are too fast." Pippin clapped a hand over his mouth. Merry, Sam and himself had agreed not to tell Benbow that the Big Folk had his daughter.

"Big Folk?! My daughter has been captured by Big Folk?!" Benbow threw his hands in the air, panicked. The others had a hard time calming him down.

"Why on earth didn't you tell me that Petunia had been taken by Big Folk?" Benbow asked when he had calmed down enough to talk civilly.

"Has been. If my suspicions are correct, and it's highly unlikely that they aren't, then Petunia has been carried by a man for roughly the past three days. But don't worry!" Pippin hurried on, "They may be nothing more than friendly Rangers fearing for her safety."

"But what if they aren't? What if they…they…" Benbow broke down and, shamefully, started to cry.

"Don't worry, old chap! We'll find her. It doesn't do any good to think the worst." Merry tried to console Benbow but nothing seemed to work.

Eventually, Benbow stopped crying and sniffed, "I suppose you're right."

He blew his nose, stood up, heaved on his pack, and set off. The others exchanged odd looks, before scrambling up, putting on their own packs, and following Benbow down the road.

A while later, the four hobbits sat round a small fire. A full moon hung in the sky.

"We're nearing Bree." Sam said, "Are we going to stop? I wouldn't mind looking in on old Butterbur."

"I wouldn't mind that myself actually," Merry grinned as he remembered the last time they had stopped in Bree. They had ended up travelling with a stranger who seemed very strange indeed!

"It would definitely nice to sleep in a bed for once; perhaps we could get a warm meal and a drink or two by a fire…" said Pippin. "For the last few days I have dreamed of roast dinners and pints of beer followed by soft, cushy mattresses and feather pillows."

"Well I haven't. I will not stop looking for my daughter until I know that she is safe and well, and somewhere where I can see her!" Benbow jumped up and began to put his pack back on.

"Don't be stupid, Ben!" Pippin said, as he pulled his brother's pack off him and made him sit down again, "It's late and we're all tired. Particularly you. We will sleep here tonight then stop at The Prancing Pony tomorrow and see if anyone has seen a group of men pass anywhere near these parts."

Benbow reluctantly agreed with Pippin and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, in Bree, the four hobbits all sat together at a small table (specially made for hobbits), drinking half pints of mead.

Rousing laughter came from the fireside and a cry of: "Tell us more!"

"Well," was the reply, "Soon after they had crossed, one of the men said 'What about the halfling?' then the captain relied 'We take her with us. She'll make a perfect pet for our Queen,' then he fell head over heels into horse dung!"

More laughter. Benbow looked up and went over to where the voice was coming from. "What was that about a halfling?" he asked.

"It was just a story! It'll take too long to re-tell," a voice shouted from the crowd at the man's feet. At this the crowd dispersed. They were no longer interested in the man or his story.

"Why hello, young hobbit! What brings you to Bree?" the man asked.

"What brings me here is my own business, but I wish to know more about the halfling you were talking about."

"There's not much to say really. Just that there were some men and a hobbit."

"Girl or boy?"

"I thought it was a girl…but I couldn't say for certain! I only glimpsed them and heard a small bit of their conversation," the man warned.

"What did she look like?" Benbow asked eagerly.

"My, my, you are persistent! Well, I've already told you I couldn't see much of them, but from where I was positioned, it looked like she had dark hair, perhaps slightly lighter than yours, she seemed quite tall for a hobbit"

"That's her! That's Petunia!" Benbow cried and jumped up, "Pippin, Merry, Sam! He knows where Petunia is! Come on, let's go catch them!"

"Slow down Ben, who knows where Petunia is?" Pippin asked, laughing slightly at Benbow's hysteria.

"That man over there, he saw them, he passed them on the way here!" Benbow chattered, and led the others across to the man who had made him so excited.

"Back again, Master hobbit? And brought your friends with you too, I see," the man said.

"My friend here is interested in what you have to say about a young hobbit-girl seen on the road to Bree," Merry said.

"Well now, I reckon that I've told him everything I can. I didn't see much… Or hear much for that matter."

"Could you tell us all that you know?" Pippin asked.

"Well, yes!" The man frowned as if trying to remember a long-forgotten memory, "There was a group of about six men travelling through the forest by the road to Bree. I, myself, was in that forest too but only on orders from my captain, you understand! Never would anyone go in of their own accord! That wood is full of ghosts they say. There have been stories of killings in there…"

Merry sighed, "We don't need to know about the wood, just tell us what you know!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Questions that need answers

Travelling for Petunia was still very uncomfortable. She still had her hands and feet bound and a gag in her mouth, and she was still riding on the shoulder of the man who, she had earlier discovered, was the Captain of the group of Big Folk who had captured her.

When they eventually stopped, Petunia was thrown down with the luggage and left for the rest of the night. That was until Raunien (the man who had spoken to her the night before), took his watch. Raunien kindly untied Petunia's hands and gave her the little food that was left, which was less than enough to keep a bird alive. They talked again, about the system of Captains and Second-in-Commands the Big Folk used, about 'Lila's' life at home and about the unfairness of life in general.

"What's going to happen to me?" Petunia asked.

Raunien became very quiet and subdued, "That's not for me to say, Lila."

"But couldn't you just give me a hint?" She wheedled.

"No! I'm sorry, Lila, but if I tell you, you'll try to run away and my father will kill me, literally!" Raunien picked up the rope from the ground and tied Petunia's hands together.

In the whole three days of travel, he had never once untied her feet. Petunia wondered about this as she was carried back to her place with the baggage. 'Perhaps it's because he doesn't trust me enough to not run away, or maybe he just forgot. Yes, that's it, he just forgotten.' Petunia hated to think the worst of people.

"Goodnight Lila," Raunien left the gag out of her mouth just long enough for her to say:

"Goodnight Raunien,"

* * *

Benbow, Sam, Merry and Pippin stood craning their necks attempting to see the top of the trees.

"We'll never find her in there!" Pippin complained

"Oh be quiet Pip, and start looking!" Merry called from farther along the edge of the wood.

"Looking for what?"

"Tracks, remnants of a fire… anything that might indicate which way they went. Benbow, it's getting dark. We'll have to make camp soon."

It was easy to see who the leader of the group was. Merry was a strong, confident Hobbit, who liked to know exactly why he was doing what he was doing at any given time. Honestly, Merry thought that the whole situation was hopeless. He knew there was no chance of four Hobbits (one of which was continually fretting about his daughter), managing to catch up with six or seven Big Folk, probably six or seven fairly large, male Big Folk! But the hopeful hobbit always tried to think the best of the situation.

"Never think about how hopeless quest or trial may be. If you do, you've already given up."

That's what he was told by the Captain of his group told his men whenever they seemed to be ready to give up. It was this thought that had kept him going all through this tiresome journey.


End file.
